Recipes

Today I have spent most of the day packing to go to Christchurch to see my preggers sister. She is pregnant with my niece, first child, last few weeks and she’s LOVING it! Not. She’s hot and bothered and feeling fat and ungainly poor Mamabear. She worries about stuff because she’s forty and every bloody person she meets wants to tell her how risky it is for her and all the unpleasant side effects that come with being an older Mama. As if that stuff might help? All of my email attempts to get her in a paddling pool or similar have fallen on deaf ears – she reckons she tried the bath and just felt fatter and more out of control poor kid.

So when she emailed me in October – crunch time at school and everyone exhausted in general – to say that her Husband was going to Vegas (I know) for business (I KNOW) for a week and would I consider visiting so she wasn’t so lonely (and to walk the dog and cook the odd meal of course) I JUMPED AT THE CHANCE. No really. I wanted an out – and I wanted dry heat. You remember that Summer just wasn’t coming to Auckland? and we were all cold and pasty and miserable? Well, I booked my flights that day, Wednesday to Wednesday. The longest I have ever been away from my kids official. And I thought that I was going to miss them, I was nervous that the house would be too quiet, and I would get bored.

Not after today. Today started well, Master 4 was dropped off at daycare pretty early. I had Master 7 with me and we went and had my blood tests (declined to pay for the Zinc one nearly $90!), Got my watch fixed, went to the library, bought the two CUTEST skellington and tattoo/rose motif stretchies for my soon to be born niece on impulse, came home folded washing, Ukulele lesson, packing blah blah blah etc

Then we picked up Master 4, and the two boys pretty much fought until right now when the long suffering GD took them to bed. I can’t even put in words the noises the older one got out of the younger one. But what gets me is the relentless-ness of it. No matter what you say or threaten them with (losing their TV time/Computer time/Bikes/legs) they just keep going…. Mama needs a wine. REAL bad. And she can’t have one. So I am distracting myself with this blog, and remembering to wear my reading glasses, and washing what I need to pack from today. Yes, I am one of those people who packs waaaay too much. But that’s ok – I look good on holiday!

Last night we tried this recipe from ‘One Lovely Life’ (I have changed to NZ measurement thingies and names);

CHICKEN & ZUCCHINI POPPERS (GF, DF)

Serves: 4-5

INGREDIENTS

500gms chicken mince

2c grated zucchini (leave peel on)

2-3 spring onions, sliced

3-4 Tbsp coriander, minced

1 clove garlic

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

(optional: ¾ tsp cumin) we didnt use this because we didnt have a GF one – didnt seem to make a difference

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat. Use a small scoop or a heaped tablespoon to scoop meatballs into the pan. Cook 8-10 at a time for about 5-6 minutes on the first side. Flip and cook an additional 4-5 minutes, or until golden brown and the centers are cooked through.

Serve with guacamole, salsa, or your favorite dip.

They were a hit! The whole family loved them AND there were leftovers for my lunch today which is even better and I have definitely added them to my options for snacks etc – they were so fast and easy to make and so YUMMY. So thanks ‘One Lovely Life’. These Chicken ‘poppers’ rule.

We ate them with my salsa/quac mixture (well I did – the boys won’t eat it because they’re dumb) which is the best for summer dinners;

one small avocado

about 6 medium tomatoes/10 cherry toms

5 or 6 basil leaves

all of the green of a spring onion sliced

Chop the whole lot up and combine, sprinkle liberally with rock salt – YUM. And the best part is that it doesn’t upset my tummy (I can have the green part of the spring onion but not the white raw).

So that’s me for today, too tired for Yoga and the GD has gotten out ’22 Jump Street’ ‘specially for me so I’m gonna go lose myself in a Channing Tatum Coma now.